The UK has removed sanctions against Russia-born tycoon Oleg Tinkov, the most outspoken billionaire to criticise Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Foreign Office said on Thursday that Tinkov would no longer be subject to sanctions following an appeal during which he argued the UK had sanctioned him in error and enlisted the support of Richard Branson as well as Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a major opponent of the Russian president, to make his case.
Whereas most Russian oligarchs have spoken out against the invasion only in guarded terms, Tinkov has denounced the “crazy war” in Ukraine and renounced his Russian citizenship last year in protest.